BRICS Summit in New Delhi Tests Unity of Expanded Bloc

Leaders of the BRICS nations will meet in New Delhi this weekend, with the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and mounting US-China tensions testing whether the expanded grouping can act in concert.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are among those expected to attend. For host India, the summit is an exercise in balance: it maintains close ties with Moscow, including energy and defence pacts, while deepening a strategic relationship with Washington and partnerships across Europe.

BRICS takes its name from the initials of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It has since grown to include 11 countries that together account for roughly half the world's population and a substantial share of its energy, resources and economic output. That growth has also laid bare internal strains, as members pursue greater influence in the global order while holding competing political, economic and foreign-policy interests.

The conflicts in Iran and Ukraine are likely to bring those differences into focus. Iran is a member of the expanded bloc and Russia remains among its most influential voices, while China has close ties to both. India, for its part, keeps channels open with Russia, Iran, the United States and Europe.

That spread of allegiances makes a strong common position on major conflicts difficult. The grouping brings together countries with competing regional ambitions, among them India and China, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Egypt and Ethiopia, alongside other Global South nations.

"The Global South is not a homogeneous entity," said Praveen Donthi, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group. "Hence, the grouping will find it hard to manage and mediate in these conflicts."

Russia's war in Ukraine has already shown the limits of India's balancing act. New Delhi has consistently urged dialogue and diplomacy rather than taking sides. The Iran-US confrontation poses a similar challenge, with China and Russia having backed Iran in international forums, India proceeding cautiously, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE nursing their own tensions with Tehran.

For India, the gathering is also a chance to manage its relationship with China. Ties have improved since border tensions flared in 2020, though Beijing remains New Delhi's largest strategic rival. Xi's visit to New Delhi, his first in seven years, could help consolidate the recent diplomatic thaw, but there are few signs of a recovery in trade and business ties.

"The upcoming summit offers India an opportunity to engage with China, make progress on outstanding bilateral issues," Donthi said.

India also has an interest in keeping BRICS from becoming an explicitly anti-Western bloc, given its strengthened ties with the United States, Israel, Japan, Australia and Europe alongside its longstanding relationship with Russia.

"India will project its strategic autonomy by being part of a non-West grouping but also finds it useful to engage with China, its primary strategic rival," Donthi said.

Reducing dependence on the US dollar is a major item on the agenda. Members have discussed stepping up trade in their own currencies and building payment systems that would lessen reliance on Western financial institutions — an idea that has gained momentum as countries such as Russia face sweeping Western sanctions. Replacing the dollar, however, remains difficult: it is deeply embedded in global trade and finance, and BRICS members have different currencies, financial systems and economic priorities.

Mahesh Sachdev, a retired Indian diplomat, said the aim should not be a direct confrontation with the dollar. Countries instead want to reduce their exposure to a financial system that can be used for political pressure, he said.

"It's a challenge, but we're not talking about frontal confrontations. It's not a binary situation," he said.

The bloc's growing membership gives it considerable weight, but its influence will ultimately depend on whether members can agree on practical steps. It has called for changes to global financial institutions, greater representation for developing countries and alternatives to Western-dominated systems, yet members often disagree on how to get there.

Sachdev said BRICS needs "more cohesive attitude and better harmony" among its members.

"If it remains just a periodic talking shop and photo ops," he said, "then its relevance erodes."

Donthi said success could be measured in smaller steps: holding the expanded group together, improving ties with China, and deepening trade and financial cooperation. The grouping could also show that it can offer developing countries a platform without forcing them to choose between Western and non-Western blocs.

"BRICS allows for incremental geopolitical gains, if not outright wins," Donthi said.